Laurent Jalabert

Laurent Jalabert

Jalabert at the arrival of the "Tour d'Alsace"
Personal information
Full name	Laurent Jalabert
Nickname	Jaja and "le panda"
Date of birth	November 30, 1968 (1968-11-30) (age 40)
Country	France
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)1
1989-1991 1992-2000 2001-2002	Toshiba ONCE Team CSC
Major wins
World Time-Trial Champion (1997) Vuelta a España (1995), 18 stages Tour de France, 4 stages Giro d'Italia, 3 stages Paris-Nice (1995, 1996, 1997) Tour de Romandie (1999) Vuelta al País Vasco (1999) Volta a Catalunya (1995) Clásica de San Sebastián (2001, 2002) Giro di Lombardia (1997) La Flèche Wallonne (1995, 1997) Milan-Sanremo (1995)
Medal record Competitor for  France Road bicycle racing World Championships Gold 1997 San Sebastian Elite Men's Time Trial Silver 1992 Benidorm Elite Men's Road Race
Infobox last updated on:
January 15, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Laurent Jalabert (born November 30, 1968 in Mazamet) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck because of the similarity to his name), he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s. Although he never won the Tour de France, where he suffered altitude sickness, he won the Vuelta a España in 1995; as well as the leader's jersey, he won the sprinter's jersey and climber's jersey all in the same race - only the second rider to have done this in a Grand Tour. With Eddy Merckx and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, he is one of only three riders to win the points classification in all three grand tours.

Biography

Laurent Jalabert

He turned professional with the French Toshiba team in 1989 and quickly established himself as a daring sprinter. He moved on to the Spanish ONCE team under Manolo Saiz, where he reinvented himself as an all-rounder capable of winning one-day races and the tours.

A catalyst was an accident at the finish of the 1994 Tour de France stage in Armentières. A policeman leaned out and several riders hit him. Jalabert was flung into the air and his bicycle was destroyed. He injured his face and promised his wife to change his style of riding. It only took a short while.

He won the 1995 Vuelta a España along with the points and climbers' competitions. He won the world time trial championship in 1997, and was French road champion in 1998, the year he initiated a pull-out of Spanish teams from the 1998 Tour de France in protest at treatment of riders in a police inquiry into drug-taking. This caused discontent among French fans and it took years for them to warm to him. He moved to CSC in 2001, where he won the stage on July 14, the French national day, Bastille Day, in the 2001 Tour de France. Earlier in the year he had injured his back in a domestic accident. He retired in 2002 after winning the climber's jersey in the Tour and going on a solo escape in the Pyrenees.

Grand tours

He won several stages of Tour de France, as a sprinter winning the green jersey twice and as a climber winning the polka dot jersey twice. His wins on Bastille Day in Tour de France in 1995 and 2001 ensured him a place in the hearts of French fans.

In the 1990s he dominated Spanish stage races. Jalabert and Alex Zülle were a constant threat to other teams in the Vuelta a España, taking turns winning stages, the overall classification and the points jersey. The strength of ONCE, with domestiques such as Johan Bruyneel and Neil Stephens, meant they were able to keep a rein from start to finish.

Besides Eddy Merckx and Tony Rominger, Jalabert is the only cyclist who has accomplished the trifecta at the grand tour level in the 1995 Vuelta a España, where he won the general, sprinters' and climbers' classifications.

Jalabert is known for sporting generosity. In the 1995 Vuelta he allowed Bert Dietz of Telekom - who had been in a solo breakaway for many kilometers - to take the mountaintop stage win at Sierra Nevada even though he had caught Dietz in the final kilometers. "I never thought we'd catch him, and when I saw he was ready to drop I felt sorry for him. I wanted to show it's not true I'm trying to win it all. My goal is the Tour of Spain," Jalabert said ^[1].

When the Vuelta was moved to September, Jalabert was finally able to compete in the spring classics and stage races such as Paris-Nice, winning many stages and the overall classification many times.

One-day races

His palmarès include Milan-Sanremo in 1995 and the Giro di Lombardia in 1997. He also won La Flèche Wallonne in 1995 and 1997, and the Clásica de San Sebastián in 2001 and 2002. Absent from his palmares is the world cycling championship road race, although he was second in 1992 to Gianni Bugno of Italy. He also won an award as the most combative rider in Tour de France in 2001 and 2002.

Retirement

On retirement, Jalabert was a consultant for Look cycles and contributed to a new line of bicycle frames. He is a commentator for France 2 and 3, the national television stations, often from a motorcycle alongside the race. In 2005, Jalabert ran the New York marathon in 2h 55m 39s, coming 391st in a field of 36,894 ^[2]. He lives with his wife Sylvie and their children at Lafrançaise, near Montauban, south-west France. His brother Nicolas, who often raced with him, continued racing after Laurent's retirement.

Jalabert has also taken up triathlon. In January 2007, he competed at Ironman Switzerland and finished with 9 hours 12 minutes. He exited the water in 1:16, which put him 966th after the swim. Once on the bike he made up significant ground with a 4:39 bike split, which allowed him to climb to 91st overall at the run transition. A 3:11 marathon was enough to gain an additional 69 places and finish 22nd of 1,850 participants. After Switzerland he qualified for the Ironman World championship in Kona, Hawaii, finishing in 9:19 and 76th overall.^[3] In June, 2008, he finished 12th overall at Ironman France in Nice, improving his swim time to 1:06 and having the second fastest bike split.

Palmarès

References

1. ^ "Tour of Spain - Stages 12 to 17". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/archives/sept95/12_17.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
2. ^ "www.cyclingnews.com - the world centre of cycling". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. 2005-11-08. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/nov05/nov08news. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
3. ^ "Triathlon Magazine Canada". Triathlonmagazine.ca. http://www.triathlonmagazine.ca/breaking_news/index.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 

Awards
Preceded by Tony Rominger	Vélo d'Or 1995	Succeeded by Johan Museeuw
Sporting positions
Preceded by Alex Zülle	World Time Trial Champion 1997	Succeeded by Abraham Olano

v • d • e Tour de France points classification winners 1953 Fritz Schär • 1954 Ferdinand Kübler • 1955–1956 Stan Ockers • 1957 Jean Forestier • 1958 Jean Graczyk • 1959 André Darrigade • 1960 Jean Graczyk • 1961 André Darrigade • 1962 Rudi Altig • 1963 Rik van Looy • 1964–1965 Jan Janssen • 1966 Willy Planckaert • 1967 Jan Janssen • 1968 Franco Bitossi • 1969 Eddy Merckx • 1970 Walter Godefroot • 1971–1972 Eddy Merckx • 1973 Herman van Springel • 1974 Patrick Sercu • 1975 Rik Van Linden • 1976 Freddy Maertens • 1977 Jacques Esclassan • 1978 Freddy Maertens • 1979 Bernard Hinault • 1980 Rudy Pevenage • 1981 Freddy Maertens • 1982–1983 Sean Kelly • 1984 Frank Hoste • 1985 Sean Kelly • 1986 Eric Vanderaerden • 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel • 1988 Eddy Planckaert • 1989 Sean Kelly • 1990 Olaf Ludwig • 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov • 1992 Laurent Jalabert • 1993–1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov • 1995 Laurent Jalabert • 1996–2001 Erik Zabel • 2002 Robbie McEwen • 2003 Baden Cooke • 2004 Robbie McEwen • 2005 Thor Hushovd • 2006 Robbie McEwen • 2007 Tom Boonen • 2008 Óscar Freire • 2009 Thor Hushovd

v • d • e Tour de France mountains classification winners 1933 Trueba • 1934 Vietto • 1935 Vervaecke • 1936 Berrendero • 1937 Vervaecke • 1938 Bartali • 1939 Maes • 1947 Brambilla • 1948 Bartali • 1949 Coppi • 1950 Bobet • 1951 Géminiani • 1952 Coppi • 1953 Loroño • 1954 Bahamontes • 1955–1956 Gaul • 1957 Nencini • 1958–1959 Bahamontes • 1960–1961 Massignan • 1962–1964 Bahamontes • 1965–1967 Jiménez • 1968 González • 1969–1970 Merckx • 1971–1972 Van Impe • 1973 Torres • 1974 Perurena • 1975 Van Impe • 1976 Bellini • 1977 Van Impe • 1978 Martínez • 1979 Battaglin • 1980 Martin • 1981 Van Impe • 1982 Vallet • 1983 Van Impe • 1984 Millar • 1985 Herrera • 1986 Hinault • 1987 Herrera • 1988 Rooks • 1989 Theunisse • 1990 Claveyrolat • 1991–1992 Chiappucci • 1993 Rominger • 1994–1997 Virenque • 1998 Rinero • 1999 Virenque • 2000 Botero • 2001–2002 Jalabert • 2003–2004 Virenque • 2005–2006 Rasmussen • 2007 Soler • 2008 None • 2009 Pellizotti

v • d • e Tour de France Combativity award winners 1956 Darrigade • 1957 Barone • 1958 Bahamontes • 1959 Saint • 1960 Graczyk • 1961 Team West-Southwest • 1962 Pauwels • 1963 van Looy • 1964 Anglade • 1965 Gimondi • 1966 Altig • 1967 Letort • 1968 Pingeon • 1969–1970 Merckx • 1971 Ocaña • 1972 Guimard • 1973 Ocaña • 1974–1975 Merckx • 1976 Delisle • 1977 Knetemann • 1978 Wellens • 1979 Kuiper • 1980 Levavasseur • 1981 Hinault • 1982 Clère • 1983 Demierre • 1984 Hinault • 1985 Ducrot • 1986 Hinault • 1987 Delgado • 1988 Simon • 1989 Fignon • 1990 Chozas • 1991–1992 Chiappucci • 1993 Ghirotto • 1994 Poli • 1995 Buenahora • 1996–1997 Virenque • 1998–1999 Durand • 2000 Dekker • 2001–2002 Jalabert • 2003 Vinokourov • 2004 Virenque • 2005 Pereiro • 2006 de la Fuente • 2007 Txurruka • 2008 Chavanel • 2009 Pellizotti